Sweet Dreams
by Lufflebunny
Summary: With Ever Love, There Is An Evil... An evil so bad, so powerful, nobody can stop it... Not even the man of your dreams...
1. In The Shadows

Sodapop Curtis sighed and leaned back against his buddy's car. Usually, he wouldn't be bothered if Steve stayed in the shop for the rest of his life, but he really needed to get home. For one thing, Ponyboy had been ill lately, and Soda wanted to find out how he was. For another, he really needed the bathroom. He rolled his eyes, jumped off the hood of the car and poked his head inside the shop.

"Hey, Steve," he yelled. "If you don't get out here and get us home soon, I'll pee all over your car!"

The girl Steve had been chatting up gave them both a disgusted look and stalked off. Steve glared at Soda. "Thanks a lot, _buddy_."

"It ain't my fault I gotta go bad. And besides, you're still with Evie. You remember Evie, don't you?"

Steve pushed him backwards out of the shop. "Shut up."

Soda laughed. "You'd have to kill me first."

Someone shifted in the shadows that made up the ally next to the shop. A small, red haired girl that no one ever seemed to see. Especially not Sodapop Curtis. She smiled to herself as she watched Steve and Sodapop mess around as they walked back to Steve's car. Oh, she knew everything there was to know about Sodapop… How he missed his ex-girlfriend, Sandy Daniels, and his friends, Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade. She knew how much he missed his parents, and how determined he was to not let anyone else know it. She knew that he often stole money from the DX Station till, to help pay his family's bills. She knew how close he was to his younger brother, Ponyboy, and she knew that he'd dropped out. She knew everything there was to know about Sodapop, everything that had happened to him since the day he was born. But most of all, she knew that Sodapop Curtis would never date her. And for that, he would have to pay. He'd have to pay in the worst way possible…

"**Kill him first?" She hissed to herself. "Not a problem."**

"What took you so long?" Ponyboy asked the minute Sodapop ran through the door.

"Can't talk," Soda grunted. "Need bathroom. NOW."

Ponyboy laughed as Steve followed Soda into the house. "Y'know, he's been gettin' weirder every day now," Steve said absent-mindedly. "Do you think it's something to do with Sandy?"

Ponyboy looked up, startled. "I shouldn't think so. He sure hasn't mentioned her."

Steve raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Hm. Interesting."

"Y'know," Soda yelled from the bathroom, "I can hear y'all talkin' about me!"

Steve laughed and looked around. Two-Bit was sat on the sofa next to Ponyboy, watching as the kid drew something, Darry was watching Football on the TV, and Soda was just coming out of the bathroom.

_This ain't right,_ he thought absent-mindedly, flopping down on the couch on Ponyboy's other side. _Dally and Johnny should be here, and Darrel and Cecilia should be here, and Sandy should be here, making out with Soda in the armchair…On second thoughts, maybe it ain't so bad that Sandy's in Florida._

The girl ran around the house, giggling. She liked watching Sodapop at night. It was so funny. Standing on top of a garbage can, she peered into the bathroom through the high, tiny window. She didn't often watch him in the bathroom, but she'd often thought about it, and she wanted to see if she was right. Unfortunately, Sodapop was washing his hands as she looked through the window. She sighed and jumped back down. Someday, Sodapop was going to be hers, and he was going to love her as much as she loved him. They would live together, and have three children: Sodapop Junior, Mayflower, and little Sonny. She would share his bed; she would cook his meals; she would see him off to work; she would cuddle up to him on a night, smelling his hair… she would have all that. They would have the perfect life together. But first, she would have to get rid of Darry and Ponyboy. And someday, she would. Someday…

**Someday soon.**


	2. Your Worst Nightmare

"People always nag. Haven't you ever noticed? At school, the teachers nag you. At home, your parents nag. And at the bus stop, your friends nag you, if you're lucky." The young girl shrunk away from her. She knew why. People often felt intimidated by her, frightened, even. She laughed again and the young girl shivered. "You know, I've been watching Sodapop Curtis… do you know who Sodapop Curtis is? Of course you do. You're his cousin, aren't you? His father's brother's daughter… Soda's youngest cousin."

**Melissa Curtis shivered again and shrunk away from the small, red haired girl pacing in front of her. "Who are you?" She managed to squeak.**

**The girl bent down until her face was level with Melissa's. "I," she said calmly, "am your worst nightmare."**

Sodapop watched lazily as Darry finished talking on the phone and hung up. "Who was that? Your girlfriend from work?"

Two-Bit laughed as he sat on the couch. "Yeah, what's-her-name… Andrea?"

Soda grinned and nodded. "Yeah. They're in _lurve_!"

Darry glared at him. "Actually, it was Uncle Norman. He said that -"

"Are you OK?" Soda asked, suddenly realizing how pale and clammy Darry was. "You don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good," Darry muttered weakly. "Melissa's missing."

Soda's reaction was completely different to Darry's. All the colour that had vanished from Darry's face seemed to rise suddenly in his brother's face, and Soda could feel himself going cold as he leapt to his feet. "What? What happened?"

"He-he didn't say much. He just said that last night, Christopher and Aileen were picking on her, and Melissa couldn't take it anymore, and she started yelling at Uncle Norman and Aunt Julianne and then she ran out. They haven't seen her since."

Two-Bit looked at them. "What, y'all think she's been kidnapped?"

"Well… not necessarily," Soda muttered, starting to pace. "I mean, when Ponyboy went missing, he wasn't kidnapped, was he?"

"No, but he was with Johnny," Darry pointed out, "and nobody in their right mind would try to kidnap one kid, let alone two. So if Melissa was by herself… there's a good chance she was kidnapped."

"But there's an equally good chance she wasn't," Sodapop argued as the front door swung open and Ponyboy walked in.

"Who wasn't what?"

"Nothing," Darry said hastily with a warning glare in Soda's direction. Ponyboy looked as though he didn't believe him. And why should he? Ponyboy had been shut out of so much, he didn't know what he'd been shut out of. Sodapop did… Although he'd been shut out of everything Ponyboy had, he'd learned to eavesdrop, and he knew that Ponyboy would be a lot worse off if he did know.

"**Can I make a phone call?" Melissa begged. "I want to talk to my parents!"**

"**No," the girl snapped. "No phone calls. Not until I say."**

"**Why are you doing this?" Melissa asked desperately. "What have I ever done to you? I don't hang around with lunatics!"**

**The girl's eyes flashed angrily, and she kicked Melissa in the head. Hard. As hard as she could. Over and over again, with Melissa trying to get away, half-crawling, half dragging herself to get away from the girl. But the girl was older than her, stronger and faster. She kicked Melissa over and over, until Melissa finally collapsed and just lay still, in a pool of blood that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. **

**The girl stared at Melissa for a minute before she spat at her still body. "That's what you get," she hissed, her voice dripping with hatred, "for calling Artemis Crawford-Hall a lunatic."**


End file.
